Mom and Dad Take NY

Day Two in NYC with the parents was a smash! We headed to SOHO first thing in the morning, and we decided to have Subway surfing contests the whole way there. The rules are to stand without holding on to anything and see who can last the longest without moving or falling over. We made it extra challenging by keeping our feet together. (I don’t think we had any winners in this game…)

When we got to to SOHO we were starving, so we took them straight to our favorite restaurant…Tacombi! I was soooo over the moon excited that they actually had a tamale maker working! I have been wanting for their vegetarian tamales for what seems like ages, and they always tell me, “our tamale maker is out”…until today; which shall now be declared Tamale Day!

Tacombi was delicious, as always.

After stuffing our faces with tacos and guacamole, we shopped around SOHO for a while before heading to Chinatown and giving the parents a very cultural experience.

Not only did they get to shop around all the Chinese vendors and food carts, but we took them behind alley ways and locked doors to see the “real” stuff that is secretly sold in Chinatown. We didn’t make any purchases, but it was definitely fun to be taken through locked doors, and then watch a young man add “gucci” and “prada” tags to the bags while we shopped around him.

We left the Chinese purse dealers to visit the 9/11 memorial. We wanted to avoid the long lines and the hassle of removing all our metals and valuables, so we did the free viewing from a large building across the street. Outside said building (that I keep forgetting the name of) is a large courtyard area with a waterfront view. A perfect spot to relax in the sunshine.

Next, we headed downtown to Battery Park to get a glimpse of Lady Liberty. After zooming in to get a close-up of our most famous statue, we took a short walk to the Charging Bull at the bottom of the Financial District, walked to Wall St., and saw a few Occupy Wall St. protestors. They are looking pretty sad lately, we can only spot a few at a time. I think they’re endangered.

So at this point we were all starving, desperate to sit down, and completely unable to find a working subway! Every subway in the financial district was closed for repair, or some lame excuse like that. Eventually we gave in and took a taxi to Lombardi’s, America’s first pizzeria. And likely the America’s best pizzeria. We managed to eat two large pizzas and a carafe of sangria in record time.

We were so exhausted when we got back that we literally passed out together on the couch.

It’s hard to believe we woke up at all the next day! But, we did, and possibly managed to walk even further. Read all about it tomorrow!